Last Friday, Adam called and said that he invited a bunch of friends over to celebrate my birthday. He told me not to ask questions but that they were coming, and that he'd handle it all. It's a good thing our house is always thirty-minutes-away from being company-ready.

I put on a crab dip, and this mulled wine for our friends. I had fun fiddling in the kitchen, and the kids went to town making decorations.

When everyone was settled and had some of the mulled wine (quite enjoyable!) Adam laid out his surprise: he was dropping the six ladies off at a restaurant and the boys were going to watch all of the kids. My friends were in on it, and we all piled into the mini van. When we got to the restaurant, a table was waiting piled with appetizers and champagne.

Wow. The night couldn't have been any better. Thank you Adam, and thank you so much to Jennifer, Karen, Claudia, Nancy, and Carol. I love you all so much.

Serves 6-8 (sort of. it really depends if you want your guests to have a taste, or a bunch. I'll double this next time.)

I used a 6 quart crockpot.

Open the wine. This was really very hard for me. I need one of those fancy wine opener thingies. It seriously took a good twenty minutes for me to open one of the bottles, and I got all sweaty and frustrated. ugh.

Squeeze the oranges to get 1 cup of juice. I'm sure you could get away with using store-bought juice, but the pulp floating around is what's kind of neat about mulled wine; it's more rustic this way. And oranges are in season.

Stir in the sugar, and add the ground spices. Float the cinnamon sticks and whole cloves on top. Slice one of the oranges in rings, and float the rings on top.

Cover and cook on high for 2 hours, or on low for 4.You want the wine to get as hot as a traditional hot beverage.

Ladle into mugs, and serve with a fresh orange wedge.

When serving, leave the lid off and the crockpot on "low."

The Verdict.

I liked this much more than I thought I would, and look forward to making it again. I will on Thanksgiving. I like that you can use terribly cheap wine (Adam went shopping the night before and Trader Joe's was already closed, but this is a great use for 2 Buck Chuck---although he assures me that the Sutter Home was on sale for $3.99) and still wow even the toughest wine snob.

Happy Birthday!! I'm glad you enjoyed a nice dinner with your friends, and it was a surprise! :)

On a total side note: I have a crockpot suggestion! Have you tried to make those probably-really-fattening-but-they-are-soooo-tasty-that-I-don't-care sausage cheese balls in the CPot? I seriously thought about using it last week when I made some of those for hubby's Thanksgiving lunch at work, but I was worried they'd come out all greasy. Ewww.

I've been reading your blog all year, but never commented before. But I figured since it's your birthday, I would let you know how much I've enjoyed your recipes. I've used several of them and found some true keepers. You've also inspired me to look at my crock pot in a whole new light, not just as a easy way to make soups or a roast, but for lots of other things as well. I know my boyfriend is very tired of hearing me say, "Did you know you can make insert whatever IN THE CROCK POT???"

ah, what a wonderful day...a birthday, not "another" birthday...here's toasting you in mulled wine, champagne, and all the other good things of life. you are making me, and a zillion other people, happy w/ your unique blog and crockpotting. long may you enjoy your activity as much as i and all your fans are. cheers!

hello and happy birthday. i just wanted to let you know i'm here and reading....late joiner. anyways, i hate when people read my blog and never comment, so i'm trying to not be that annoying person. thanks, this is a cool thing you're doing!

I LOVE Mulled Wine. I usually get the cheapest Red that I can find...then load it up with spices. It makes it super yummy!

Aspen Mulling Spices are a great "shortcut" solution for getting this drink ready fairly quickly. Once it all dissolves into the wine, it's basically ready. It's better if it is allowed to sit for a bit, but it's still good as soon as it's ready!

I have to say, it's cruel to tantalize us with the whole "30 minute to company ready" thing when your organizer still isn't printed yet. But when it is...mine's been pre-ordered for months! (So I need to warn my husband not to do such an incredibly sweet thing for me until I'm fully prepared with your book!)

I have to say, at first I was picturing a whole orange actually floating on top of the cider and thought that would look kinda weird. Though bobbing for oranges in mulled wine might really be an exciting party game.

Fist of all.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY!Second......I LOVE mulled wine! I accidentally got drunk on mulled wine once. I'm not a drinker but I love Mulled wine. My theory was that because it was a hot drink then all the alcohol must have cooked off......WRONG!!!! 11 glasses later and I was very sick and wobbly!I still love it but will only have a couple of glasses!!Im going to try this one this Christmas, cant wait.V x

Your blog is a delight and inspires me to cook SOOOO much more often! I have grown to love my Krups Multi Cooker this year; it is a real workhorse since it slow cooks, whips up perfect rice, and steams tender-crisp veggies. If you are looking to add to your crockpot family, I highly recommend it :D It is working almost all days of the week cooking up something great from your blog.

I'm getting married in January, and my fiance just got a pastoral job. Yesterday when we walked through the parsonage there was a small crockpot sitting on the counter that someone had donated. I instantly got excited because a) I got a large crockpot at my bridal shower, b) which means that now I have TWO crockpots, therefore c) I can make two of your recipes at once!

Are you considering making mulled apple cider anytime soon? I'll be need a recipe to make enough hot apple cider for at least 500 people for Christmas Eve service at church. I'd love to see what you would make!

Happy birthday! Mine is tomorrow, and instead of going out, the husband is cooking my favorite dishes. And serving them on our china, marking the first time we'll have used our china and crystal (it was in boxes for months and months after our wedding)

Happy, happy birthday! The wine looks great - will keep it on file for the hols. Your special party sounds soooo fabulous! Horray to Adam for setting you up. I'm glad to hear you had such a wonderful time. oxox my friend. *mwah*

I hosted our celiac/gluten intolerance support group meeting on Saturday. I made your pumpkin pie dip and the wassail. Both were awesome. I doubled the pumpkin pie dip recipe, but we had so many goodies that I had leftovers, which I shared with my co-workers today. As far as the wassail, I have to admit I never thought I liked apple cider, but that wassail with the additions of the pineapple juice, cloves, honey (we have our own bee hives, so we used our own honey), and the floating orange slices and cinnamon was just divine! I made your Thai coconut chicken soup for our last meeting and it was a huge hit, too.

Thanks again for crockin' every day, you have definitel inspired me!! If you ever need any recipes, let me know, I have quite a few now that you haven't tried, email me at jillybean@hvc.rr.com if you are interested.

Wow, Adam knew he had to impress A LOT of people for your birthday b/c so many women are in on your daily life- and he did a heck of a job! Good for you for a night out. Happy Birthday, and thanks so much for all your hard work to help all of us non-cooking types out. Your site is one of 3 I visit without fail, every day. God Bless You, Bev Reed

Man, can't you make another resolution to keep using your crockpot everyday next year too? You are just awesome and I can't get enough of your blog! I am a big wine lover and always have Cabernet around so thanks for this recipe!

Happy Birthday and I hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving!! Thank you sooo much for all the hard work you have done to make this blog absolutely wonderful. I cannot tell how much I have enjoyed coming home from work and looking to see what you post. You're the best!! Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday! Your very lucky to have such a thoughtfull husband to do this for you. But Im sure that you are well aware of that. Thanks for posting this recipie just before the holidays so that it will help us deal with the families!And by the way, I love your sense of humor with every post. And the way you put the way your kids ate it. Its very refreshing and easy to relate too.

Crockpot Coupon Alert:maybe everyone has already seen this, but I was poking around on the FAQ link and found a 5$ mail-in rebate! "MANUFACTURER REBATE: Expires 11/30/08. Valid with the purchase of any Crock-Pot Slow Cooker with a retail purchase price of $24.50 or greater. Limit one rebate per household and address; multiple requests from groups or organizations will not be honored. Maximum rebate $5.00, offer valid in U.S.A. only."In case anyone needs a reason to buy another crock RIGHT NOW! :):)

I made the mulled wine and the cream cheese mashed potatoes for our belated Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday. They were both a HUGE hit! Thank you so much for sharing these. I think the mashed potatoes will probably become my standard recipe.

Your blog is fabulous, BTW, and I hope you had a very happy bday last week. :)I have a question about the mulled wine--do you think agave nectar could be used in place of the white sugar? I love mulled wine and I'd love to try this recipe, but I don't keep sugar on-hand...

I did have a great birthday, thank you!I don't have any personal experience with agave nectar. I'd imagine it would work just fine, and hopefully you know the conversion from white sugar; I have no clue.I have seen recipes sweetened with honey and corn syrup (gag)... so my gut says it would work just fine.

I love this! So far everything I have tried from your blog is de-lish! And now I know why I was destined to find your blog...we share the same birthday!!! (I think you're a little younger than me though ;-} ) Best Wishes.

I'm not sure if you would know the answer to this, but I figured I'd ask. I was looking into making this for Christmas for the family. I was just wondering, is the alcohol cooked off in the wine, or is the wine only heated until hot? I am pregnant and wasn't sure if I could have any of it or not.

My friend just introduced me to mulled wine. I shared her recipe for making it on the stove on my site. She adds sliced apples which are so tasty after they have been soaking in your glass after several pours. I am going to try and use my slow cooker for a party tonight.

made this last night for a get-together. very easy and yummy, but I found that I preferred it with more OJ. For some reason, it tasted SUPER strong - almost like I added brandy (like you would for sangria.) Not sure why it tasted that way, since I used wine that I like drinking regularly (not super cheap stuff.) But I would absolutely make it again.

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